Hello folks. I have just been given an old Sun road bike. I just wondered if anyone on here is able to give me any extra information about it. I know very little about bikes, but would at least like to know a little about mine. I will attach some photos, any info such as it's year of production etc would be much appreciated. TIA
Jonny69
Senior Retro Guru
The J at the beginning of the number on the dropout is the date code on Sun and Parkes bikes. There used to be a thread on here with a table of the dates but it got deleted recently by a forum hacker, unfortunately. From memory, I think J is around 1944-1945. Frame and forks look original and they belong together. The chainset looks like it could be original. Stem could be original. Everything else looks like it has been replaced.
Well I found this earlier, through browsing forums in this site. But to be honest I dismissed the idea that the bike is 80 years old.
Attachments
Jonny69
Senior Retro Guru
That is the table from the thread that was deleted. Bagpuss, I didn’t know you had it.
Mello94, your frame looks pretty consistent with a Sun from that age. It’s got the earlier art deco style badge and the frame angles are quite relaxed, as they would be on an earlier bike. It looks like it’s in its original paint and in pretty good condition. These were factory-built bikes. You can find old Sun brochures online which usually list the models and the equipment that came on them. I’m not so well up on the Sun models, but @keithglos might be able to add some more info.
Mello94, your frame looks pretty consistent with a Sun from that age. It’s got the earlier art deco style badge and the frame angles are quite relaxed, as they would be on an earlier bike. It looks like it’s in its original paint and in pretty good condition. These were factory-built bikes. You can find old Sun brochures online which usually list the models and the equipment that came on them. I’m not so well up on the Sun models, but @keithglos might be able to add some more info.
Just to ride it really. But if it's as old as 80 years, I would like to keep it in good condition. There is a bit of rust on the rims so I'll need to take care of that.
